The Agriculture and Energy Revolutions of this century are anchored in an unlikely place: southwest Kansas. This region, considered flyover country for decades, has quietly been leading the world with its economic output, and the next phase of industrial agriculture and green energy production stand to build on this foundation.
In the heart of this area is Seward County, Kansas. Corporations including National Beef Packing Company, Air Products, Conestoga Energy Partners, Invenergy, Heifer Source, National Helium, and others have chosen this county because of its natural resources, its logistical advantages, and its people. Over the next few years, these companies as well as new partners are poised to invest more than $10 billion dollars in the region.
The economy of this region is built on one principle: extraction. Early ranchers extracted nutrients from the prairie to fatten livestock. The farmers who followed extracted more from the soil to raise crops. In the 1880s, Liberal was known as the broom corn capital of the world. By the 1920s, the first exploration wells were drilled, which led to the discovery of both crude oil and natural gas. Since then, the Hugoton Gas Embayment has produced approximately 26 trillion cubic feet of natural gas, making it one of the largest fields in the world. This abundant natural resource meant that farmers on the high plains could affordably access the water reservoir beneath the plains: the High Plains Aquifer. This center-pivot irrigation ensured crop production despite the unpredictable weather patterns of this region.
The economic future of this region will be built on this history. While the meatpacking industry has been present in Liberal, Dodge City, and Garden City for more than five decades, National Beef, Cargill, and Tyson continue to invest in plant expansion and automation. National Beef Packing in Liberal recently completed its new fabrication floor. This investment of more than $350 million built the largest fabrication floor of its kind in the world. The new design ensures that existing automation is integrated seamlessly into the production line and space for new and expanding automation is available. Each day, 6,000 animals are processed at this one facility, and its products are shipped globally. Opportunities exist for additional value-added products and support industries that serve the meat-packing machine.
Similarly, this region’s knowledge of energy extraction and production has grown each decade. Conestoga Energy Partners and its 110-million-gallon Arkalon Ethanol Plant guarantees that our corn and sorghum producers in the region receive the best value for their commodities. This facility and its leadership continue to advance the field. In August of 2024, a groundbreaking ceremony was held for their new partnership with Saffire Renewables. Saffire is building a new research and development facility onsite at Arkalon Ethanol to design and produce Gen. 2 Ethanol. Ethanol produced here will be transported the LanzaJet facilities in Georgia where it will be converted into renewable jet fuel.
New technology developed from the National Renewable Energy Laboratories will utilize corn stover rather than the kernels. In a region challenged with limited rainfall and a finite water resource in the aquifer, it is critical that we maximize the water that we use. Every portion of this process is being studied, from the ideal amount of stover to leave on the field to the proper storage techniques for the bales. When completed, this new model will become the standard addition for ethanol plants everywhere.
Our future is bright with planned projects in wind, solar, and hydrogen production. By 2030, Seward County Kansas will be producing every form of energy except hydroelectric and nuclear. This energy will serve both the greater grid but also localized energy consumers like data centers and large industrial complexes. We are one of the few places in the world where a data center can find available land at an affordable price but also have the options to power that facility with natural gas, renewable natural gas, wind, or solar.
We are here, in the great expanse of land where the west meets the east, where our highways stretch from Mexico to Canada, and our railroad from Los Angeles to Chicago. We are growing, manufacturing, and powering this country, and we’re excited about the future of this community, this region, and this state.
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